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  • [3 Ad Thursday] 🤯 This Siri alternative ad racked up over $7M in ad spend??

[3 Ad Thursday] 🤯 This Siri alternative ad racked up over $7M in ad spend??

Plus: 2 more amazing ads with millions in ad spend to model after ✌️

Author

VidTao
February 12, 2026

Welcome to, or welcome back to this week’s VidTao 3 Ad Thursday!

Each Thursday we’ll be diving into our VidTao YouTube ad library to uncover 3 high-performing YouTube ads driving results.

This week we’ve got three high-performing YouTube ads for you to check out & model, including:

-BetterHelp Ad With Over $2.4M in AdSpend…
-Comparison-Type Ad by Whispr Flow AI (Over $7M in AdSpend!)...
-Robot Puppy AI-Looking Ad With $7M+ in AdSpend…

Ready to check the ads out?


The tracking metric you've never heard of that 4x'd a $750M business 📈


99% of DTC Subscription brands miss this

Duolingo was stuck in 2018.

Yes, $750M in revenue & 40 million+ daily users…

But growth?

Flatlining.

Hundreds of tests running… Nothing moving the needle.

They were trapped optimizing metrics everyone tracks: conversion rates, retention rates, acquisition costs.

Then they used a framework that flips traditional tracking on its head…

…exposing the ONE metric that mattered most...

…buried in every DTC subscription brand's biggest blind spot.

When they tested it against everything else — new user acquisition, reactivation campaigns, onboarding flows — this one metric had 10x more impact than all of them.

The result?

4x growth.

Not from better ads. Not from new traffic sources. Not from a rebrand.

From tracking one transition that 99% of subscription brands completely ignore.

Want to see how you can uncover your DTC subscription business’s “magic metric”?

VidTao Co-Founder Brat Vukovich just wrote an article inside his weekly newsletter, The Dashboard, walking you through exactly how to dig into your own subscription business and uncover this golden insight.

PS — The Dashboard is where Brat shares weekly notes on building Bratrax, buying media, and making sense of performance data - without the fluff.

PPS — Send this link to a friend who needs it: blog.bratrax.com

Let's dive right in and take a closer look at this week's YouTube ad standouts and discover what makes them so successful.

BetterHelp Ad With Over $2.4M in AdSpend

Our first ad pick for this week is an ad by BetterHelp, with over $2.4M in ad spend!

Check it out:

Now, let’s dissect this ad and see what are some of the elements it consists of that make it so effective:

🧠 Hook

“You’re not avoiding therapy because of stigma — you’ve just gotten too good at coping.”

This reversal reframes strength as a hidden weakness — a psychological mirror technique that earns instant emotional engagement.

💡 Empathy Layer
 
“As a therapist who goes to therapy…”

Positions the speaker as peer + guide. The delivery feels calm, reflective, and unguarded — the opposite of a sales pitch.

🩵 Problem Amplification

“Your body holds every stressor you don’t have time to process.”

Language here moves from cognitive to sensory — a smart move to make emotional pain felt.

🧩 Solution Introduction

“BetterHelp removes that barrier.”

The platform demo follows a clean, linear structure: questionnaire → review → matching → flexible format. Viewers intuit ease and accessibility without overload.

📊 Proof Segment

“Meaningful symptom improvement within 12 weeks.”

Brief, quantifiable, backed by a positive tone — builds quiet trust.

🌅 Transformation & CTA

“If you want to walk into 2026 with less mental weight…”

Subtle time-based reframe → makes therapy feel like a personal reset milestone.

This advertiser has other cool ads you could model after besides the one we just analyzed, don’t miss out!

~ update from our friends at Funnel of the Week ~

Air Fryers, ‘Dark Posting’ & Category Creation for
a $4B Market

Our friends at Funnel of the Week just released a new funnel breakdown…

…This time it’s a DTC beauty brand using dark posting + smart benefit repositioning to turn a decades-old niche product into a mainstream hit.

The product? Shampoo bars. The angle? No longer “eco-friendly” - now it’s hair transformation stories like:

“My hair grew 4 inches in 2 months”
“Finally found the solution for my thin, lifeless hair”

And the growth opportunity is huge:

  • US shampoo bar market: $4.13B, growing 7.7% annually

  • Only 35% of consumers know this category exists

  • Only 8% have tried solid shampoo bars

Inside this breakdown, you’ll see:

 ✓ All “dark post” influencer accounts running now - and how they target different demos
✓ Creative strategy that shifts from eco benefits to personal transformation
✓ The awareness stage moves that take someone from “never heard of it” to “ordering today”
✓ How this exact framework has created billion-dollar markets before (electric toothbrushes, plant-based meat, and more)

 Comparison-Type Ad by Whispr Flow AI (Over $7M in AdSpend!)

Up next - an ad by Whispr Flow that is being compared to Siri and presented as a better alternative in this comparison-style ad, check it out:

… and it’s racked up over $7M in ad spend!

Let’s see what elements this ad consists of:


🧠 Hook

“Siri’s dictation was driving me crazy.”

Instantly familiar pain. The viewer feels seen before the brand is even mentioned.

⚖️ Comparison Setup

“So I switched to Whispr Flow. Here’s why.”

Simple structure — a testimonial that immediately promises proof.

🧩 Demo 1 — Accuracy

Siri misunderstands “Figma,” “Miro,” “Asana,” turning it into “sigma,” “mirror,” “sauna.”

Visual text overlay highlights the chaos — this shows frustration better than words ever could.

Then Whispr Flow nails the same command cleanly.

🧾 Demo 2 — Smart Formatting

Siri outputs a block of text; Flow turns it into a bullet-point grocery list.

A single green check mark animation visually reinforces “it just works.”

💡 Demo 3 — Custom Snippets

Shows how users can automate repetitive text (like dropping a Calendly link).

Smart — highlights a “pro user” benefit that feels advanced but achievable.

🌍 Demo 4 — Universal Integration

Final montage shows Whispr Flow working across Gmail, Slack, OpenAI, WhatsApp, Notion.

Repetition drives home ubiquity — the “works everywhere” claim feels earned.

🎯 Close & CTA

“If you’re still using Siri for dictation, you’re working way harder than you need to.”

A perfect empathy-to-action pivot — it’s not judgmental, just presenting a more functional alternative.

Whispr Flow also has many other cool ads with millions in ad spend for some additional inspo, here’s a sneak peek:

 Robot Puppy AI-Looking Ad With $7M+ in AdSpend

Our last ad for today is an interesting AI-looking robot puppy ad:

Let’s see what are some of the elements this ad is relying on:

👵 Opening Hook

“This robotic puppy is so lifelike, it fooled my neighbor who’s a veterinarian.”

The combination of shock + credibility primes immediate attention 

❤️ Emotional Setup

“I’ve been a grandmother for 15 years… smartest purchase I’ve ever made.”

Positions the speaker as wise, experienced, and emotionally credible — trust skyrockets.

🎁 Product Reveal

Introduces Waffy through gifting context (“I got my granddaughter this smart robotic puppy…”).

This framing makes the viewer imagine buying, not owning. Smart targeting for grandparents and parents.

🐶 Mechanism Demo

“Recognizes Emma’s voice… sits, barks, walks, wags tail.”

Rapid demo sequence builds fascination.

Each action adds believability and visual proof of AI integration.

🌟 Emotional Payoff

Emma’s joy is the centerpiece — smiling, hugging, sleeping better.

Ties the product to emotional well-being and bonding — not just fun.

👩‍👧 Dual Benefit Angle

Shows intergenerational appeal: joy for kids, companionship for seniors.

Adds social proof (“three neighbors asked where we adopted him from”).

You can use VidTao to find out more about this (or any other!) advertiser - more ads, relevant statistics, landing pages and more! 

Here’s a quick scroll:


🕵️ Want to “Spy” on over 34.3 million YouTube ads (and landing pages)?

Go here to claim your free trial of the VidTao Premium YouTube Ad Library👇

That’s all for this week, folks! 🚀

We hope this week’s selection of high-performing ads has sparked new ideas to test yourself!

Want more insights like these?

Stay tuned for next week’s VidTao 3 Ad Thursday, where we’ll continue breaking down winning strategies from the best YouTube ads in the game!

And btw… If you have questions about YouTube ads?

Go here to schedule a free chat with our friends at Inceptly. Inceptly is a top Direct Response video ad agency, specializing in high-performing YouTube ad creatives & media buying.

Have a great week!

PPS - Are you spending $1k/day+ on Paid Ads? 👉 Go here to set up a free YouTube Ad brainstorm chat.